


solidarity.

by Tood Bootsman (KittooningMalijah)



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: 2x02 fans of wet circles, Canon Divergent, Extended Scene, Friendship Bracelets, Gen, bi Todd, just some soft stuff to distract us from canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 07:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12789825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittooningMalijah/pseuds/Tood%20Bootsman
Summary: The least professional conversation that Todd Brotzman has ever had with law enforcement. Probably. [ altered scene for 2x02, Fans of Wet Cirlces ]





	solidarity.

          Everything had happened so quickly.

          Between getting Dirk back, starting a new case, and getting arrested, Todd was actually  _dizzy_ , not that he could really do anything about it. For the time being, he had to keep himself calm, in order to keep the risk of a pararibulitis attack at a minimum and make sure that he didn’t end up in some federal facility for the rest of his life. Really, the first half was pretty easy. It wasn’t the first time he’d been arrested and a part of him knew it wasn’t likely to be the last. Then again, public indecency and intoxication was  _very_  different than the FBI putting him on their wanted list. Still, the basic process was familiar to him.

          The only part of it that caught him off guard was the closet. Maybe he shoudl have anticipated it - after all, a small town sheriff’s office was a far cry from the stations he was used to in Portland and Seattle - but it still made him oddly comfortable. It felt less like an interrogation and more like a  _conversation_. He hadn’t really actively participated in one of those in a while.

          Then again, he had been  _arrested_ , and then locked in a closet with a deputy. Things could only get so unfamiliar before his confusion turned into something that was closer to panic.

          “-I have  _rights_. Speaking of which, I don’t remember you reading me mine. Is this some kind of...  _fascist_  thing?”

          For a long moment, he didn’t get a response from the woman in the chair in front of him, just a concentrated stare from both her eyes and the TEVETINO badge on her chest. It was unnerving, and he was almost ready to speak again when she broke the silence for him. “Are you Todd Brotzman from the Mexican Funeral?”

          He wasn’t expecting that.

          No one had asked about the band, besides Dirk and the detectives they’d dealt with during the Patrick Spring case, in over half a decade. Mostly, it was because he didn’t like talking about it. Todd had a lot of guilt tied up in how the band had split up, and his sister had been more than enough of a reminder when it came to all of the mistakes he’d made in his past. “Yeah...?”

          Almost immediately, the deputy was on her feet, and he took a step back in sureprise. Being recognized was rare enough, but she actually seemed  _excited_  to know who he was, and that was rarer, still. “You’re like, a god of the Seattle mid-2000 alt scene, dude.”

          The words made him blink, still startled and confused, but his panic had faded enough that he wasn’t worried about a sudden attack. Suddenly, he actually started to  _relax_ , as crazy as that seemed. If she was a fan, maybe he could get himself and his friends out of there with an autograph and a few carefully chosen song lyrics. 

          Maybe it was playing dirty, but Todd had long since accepted that he wasn’t a good person. 

          Of course, he wasn’t all that shocked when his bad luck prevented him from  _trying_  to execute his morally ambiguous plan. Instead, deputy Tevetino was speaking again and encroaching on his personal space, her eyes wide and focused on his. “That is  _so cool_. You know, I was actually thinking of traveling to Seattle for one of your shows, but then the band broke up, so...” She made a face at that, like she’d eaten something sour while saying the words, but she didn’t pause for very long. “It was right after you did that color in your hair.”

          He knew exactly what she was talking about immediately - at the time, he thought the pink and blue and purple streaks were a good idea, but as soon as Amanda had figured out  _why_  he’d chosen those particular colors, he’d gotten it all trimmed out or dyed away. There wasn’t a point in trying to be subtle if he didn’t at all succeed. “Yeah, I actually kind of forgot I did that...” It wasn’t a lie. It was embarrassing, having to come out to his family because of a failed plan, and he’d rather leave those memories locked away.

          “What? But it was  _iconic_ , man!” The enthusiastic tone only made him that much more confused, and it certainly didn’t help that he was hyperaware of how she was reaching into her pocket for something. “No, Todd Brotzman, you should remember that, because it was  _amazing_. That was the year I learned about myself. I only learned that there was another option because of your rainbow hair.”

          Todd blinked, something he’d been doing quite a bit of, in that closet, and frowned when she pushed something into his hand. When he looked down, he was hesitant to uncurl his fingers, staring at the striped bracelet. Pink and purple and blue were woven together, so wide that it curled in on itself no matter how he twisted it to try to get a better look. He knew what a friendship bracelet was, he’d still been living at home when Amanda hit that part of her childhood, but it seemed heavier than that.

          They weren’t friends. He was literally a prisoner, after all, but the bracelet did mean  _something_.

          His stomach twisted when everything hit him at once. His embarrassing decision had actually helped someone, a total stranger two states away, and that was...  _a lot_. Maybe he didn’t need to block  _all_  of it out.

          Deputy Tevetino was grinning up at him, and he actually managed to smile back, his shoulders relaxing despite the crazy situation. “Even if you don’t want to wear it, you can keep it. I’ll even see if I can sneak you some of the fun stuff. We bisexuals gotta stick together, right?”

          Letting his smile widen, Todd nodded his head while trying not to let it grow into an outright grin. “Right.”


End file.
